Hwaseong City Hosts Jeongjo Filial Piety Cultural Festival and Royal Procession...Robot Parade Appears at Historic Site

Hwaseong Special City (Mayor Jeong Myeong-keun) will hold the "2026 Jeongjo Filial Piety Cultural Festival and Royal Procession" from October 3-4 at Jeongjo Filial Piety Park and the Yungneung area.

The Jeongjo Filial Piety Cultural Festival is a representative historical and cultural festival of Hwaseong Special City that has continued since 2002 to honor and inherit King Jeongjo's deep filial piety and spirit of compassion for the people. This year, the festival will be operated with diverse programs that combine citizen-participated historical and cultural content with cutting-edge technology.

At the opening ceremony on October 3, the first day of the festival, Filial Piety Awards will be presented to citizens who have set examples by practicing filial piety in the community. Following this, approximately 400 citizens will participate in reenacting the "Hyungneung Funeral Procession" of 1789, when the tomb of Prince Sado was relocated to Yungneung in Hwaseong, regarded as one of the most auspicious sites in Joseon. This will be followed by an original musical performance titled "The King's Path," which centers on King Jeongjo's filial spirit, and a 1,000-drone light show that will illuminate the autumn night sky with splendor.

On October 4, the second day, the Royal Procession of King Jeongjo will unfold with the participation of approximately 800 citizens, divided into ▲traditional section (Hwanggye-dong~Hyungneung Park) ▲modern section (Dongtan Central Park~Hyungneung Park) ▲future section (Hyungneung Park~Yungneung).

The Royal Procession of King Jeongjo is the festival's signature program reenacting King Jeongjo's journey to Hwaseong. Filial piety parade units, children's royal palanquin processions, citizen processions, and foreign participant processions will convey King Jeongjo's filial piety and spirit of compassion for the people vividly.

Notably this year, a robot parade embodying the identity of Hwaseong Special City as a future advanced city will newly participate in the royal procession. Through this unique parade combining robots symbolizing advanced technology with traditional royal processions, Hwaseong Special City will showcase differentiated festival content representing the coexistence of history and the future.

Subsequently, at Yungneung, the Sanlung Ritual Procession and Hyungneung Memorial Rite will be held. This ceremony reflects on the meaning of filial piety that King Jeongjo practiced toward his father Prince Sado, and will be livestreamed at Jeongjo Filial Piety Park to convey the historical significance even more vividly.

Throughout the festival period, various experiential programs will be operated at Jeongjo Filial Piety Park and the surrounding Yungneung area, including Joseon-era martial arts demonstrations, traditional music performances, traditional costume and craft experiences, ceremonial participation experiences, and royal tomb tour programs, providing citizens and tourists with abundant attractions and entertainment.

Meanwhile, this festival has enhanced citizen convenience through active participation by local businesses. Hyundai Motor Group's Namyang Research Institute, as part of its cooperation in shared prosperity with the local community, will provide shuttle buses to the festival site on both October 3 (Saturday) and 4 (Sunday), and will additionally support return buses on October 4 (Sunday) to assist parade participants with departures and returns, providing a total of 16 vehicles. Through this support, citizens and tourists visiting the festival site are expected to enjoy the event more comfortably and safely.

Mayor Jeong Myeong-keun of Hwaseong Special City stated, "The Jeongjo Filial Piety Cultural Festival and Royal Procession is the representative historical and cultural festival of the Republic of Korea that inherits King Jeongjo's filial piety and spirit of compassion for the people as values of today. This year in particular, through new content including robot parades, we plan to showcase a special festival unique to Hwaseong Special City where history, culture, and cutting-edge technology coexist, and we ask for the interest and participation of many citizens and tourists."